The present disclosure relates to test sockets having Peltier elements, test equipment including the same, and methods of testing semiconductor packages using the same.
In general, semiconductor chips may be sorted into either good chips or failed chips through a wafer level test process. The semiconductor chips may be employed in various electronic systems that process or store a number of accurate data. Accordingly, the wafer level test process may correspond to a very important process for evaluating the reliability and quality of the semiconductor chips. The wafer level test process may be applied to a small quantity of semiconductor chips in a development stage, whereas the wafer level test process may also be applied to a large quantity of semiconductor chips in a mass production stage.
The semiconductor chips may be packaged to produce semiconductor packages that are encapsulated by protection material such as epoxy resin, and the semiconductor packages may also be classified into either good semiconductor packages or failed semiconductor packages through a package level test process. Each of the semiconductor packages may be inserted into a socket on a test module substrate during the package level test process and then removed from the socket after the package level test process. When the package level test process is performed at room temperature, it may be difficult to regard the test results as reliable data even though the semiconductor packages under the test substantially have excellent characteristics. This is because characteristics of the semiconductor packages may be changed according to an environmental temperature. In other words, even though the semiconductor packages exhibit excellent characteristics at room temperature, the semiconductor packages may malfunction at a higher or lower temperature than the room temperature.
In fact, the semiconductor packages may be exposed to diverse environments during operation thereof. Thus, the test processes including the package level test process should be performed under various conditions to evaluate whether the semiconductor packages operate correctly in various environments. For example, a temperature test or a high-voltage stress (HVS) test may be performed in order to evaluate the reliability of the semiconductor packages. The temperature test may comprise a high-temperature test and a low-temperature test.
In general, the high-temperature test may be performed using a variable temperature generator after testing various characteristics of the semiconductor packages at room temperature. A conventional variable temperature generator has a large volume, however, and it is difficult to carry the conventional variable temperature generator. Further, it may take a long time to test a small quantity of semiconductor packages using the conventional variable temperature generator.
In order to perform the high-temperature test, the conventional variable temperature generator may provide heated air on the socket in which the semiconductor package is mounted. Thus, the socket and the semiconductor package are indirectly heated up and the high-temperature test may be then performed. For example, once the variable temperature generator is set for a desired temperature, the variable temperature generator heats the air and the heated air is provided onto the socket and the semiconductor package. Therefore, the socket and the semiconductor package may be heated up to maintain the desired temperature. After testing the semiconductor package at the desired temperature, the operation of the variable temperature generator is stopped and the tested semiconductor package is replaced with another semiconductor package. Accordingly, whenever a new semiconductor package is tested, extra time is required to produce the re-heated air. As a result, throughput of the test set-up using the variable temperature generator may be degraded.